sword in stone
 

When I was in Florence, there was an map listing local areas to visit. One area, a few miles from Florende, had a description of church ruins. It was started by a man that when continually urged to go to war instaed of becoming a priest threw his sword at a stone and it stuck. Anyone have an idea of what the name of church was or any other info?

I think you are thinking of San Galgano. It's more than a few miles from Florence: 63 miles, according to my guidebook. But it's a wonderful ruin amidst meadows, that grow inside and outside of the Gothic walls.

Even without the sword-in-the-stone story, it's a magical place, but here's a Web site about it:

http://www.tuscanjourney.org/tuscan-...-in-the-stone/

ttt

Thanks Eloise, thats it.

The sword in the stone at St. Galgano is not in the ruins itself. It is up the hill from the ruins of the Cistercian Abbey in the hermitage or Rotunda of Montesiepi, a small chapel. It is a short walk from the ruins.

If you should go to San Galgano combine it with a visit to Chiusdino, a small hill town where St. Galgano was born.